Rainbow Handprints
by PunkPinkPower
Summary: Emily's peaceful painting is interrupted by the rest of her team.


Notes: Because I really just needed to write some non-epic length team schmoop. It's shippy, probably. Because I am, so.

* * *

She should have known better than to keep the door open. Its one thing to walk past a friend's room and see them doing something innocuous, like reading or folding laundry. It's entirely another to walk past and see an easel and a large amount of art supplies, and she isn't surprised at all that they all want to participate.

They are, after all, her team. Artistic, and crazy, and beautiful, and why did she think she'd get to finish her painting by herself?

It starts with Mike. She hears the scuffle of his sneakers on the floor in the hallway as he stops and does a double take at what she's doing. Emily grins, but doesn't look back. She keeps working on the large yellow petal she's trying to get textured correctly.

"I didn't know you painted," Mike says, standing at the threshold of her room.

"Sometimes I just like to do something creative," Emily says, and she glances over her shoulder at him.

Mike nods, leaning against her doorframe. "Do you mind if I watch?"

Emily shrugs, only a little uncomfortable. "Sure?"

Mike comes into the room, sits himself comfortably down on her bed, and watches her finish the first petal of her sunflower painting.

It's only a few minutes before another familiar voice is coming into the room. "Oh, how pretty!" Mia says, and she doesn't even wait for invitation as she comes up behind Emily and places a friendly hand on her shoulder. "You're so good!"

"Thanks," Emily says, laughing. She looks at her half finished flower skeptically, though.

"I wish I could paint," Mia says sadly.

"You can," Mike chimes in, and Mia looks at him. "Everyone can paint. It's called abstract art."

Mia gives Mike a reproachful look. "I'd like to see you paint something anyone could call art."

Mike raises an eyebrow at the challenge. "Hey Em," he says cheerfully, "Can I borrow some paint?"

Emily grins at them. "Only if you promise not to get it on my floor."

Which is how Mike and Mia end up sprawled behind her as she works at her easel, dabbing at a piece of paper with small paint brushes and a little pallet of colors, and occasionally making argumentative noises at each other. She can tell they are trying to be quiet and not intrude, but she can't help glancing back at them a few times to see the quiet fun they're having.

And then comes the happy squeak that can only signal a golden moment. "Why didn't anyone tell me we were painting?" Antonio says, and he comes into the room, sits down next to Mia and Mike, and proceeds to steal a piece of paper and some paint and draw a large heart in red.

Emily is on her last petal when she looks over her shoulder to see Jayden and Kevin giving this team activity varying degrees of wary looks.

"You're welcome to join," she tells them, gesturing with her brush to the little bit of open space left on her floor. She puts another paint pallet down for them.

Jayden gives her a warm grin and comes into the room, sitting down next to a very focused Antonio and sneaking a peak at his painting over his shoulder. Kevin stays standing in the doorway for a few minutes, watching instead.

Until Mike says, "Really? Really, Kevin? You're gonna be _that_ guy?"

Emily can practically hear Kevin frowning as he repeats, "_That_ guy?"

"Yeah," Mike says, batting Mia's paintbrush away from the page happily, "the one who has to point out how childish we're being before being verbally smacked down and joining in anyway."

Emily laughs as she looks back to see the annoyed look on Kevin's face. Mike isn't even looking at him, instead focusing on Mia adding yellow dots to his abstract masterpiece.

Kevin begrudgingly comes into the room and takes a seat next to Mike, despite the little bit of room available between Mike and the bed and the large amount of space next to Jayden. Emily purses her lips as Mike hands Kevin a paintbrush with green paint on the end.

Emily turns back to her own painting, and looses most of her interest in it. She likes it, and it has relaxed her, but of course, her crazy, amazing, beautiful friends trump most anything else these days, and she knows she'll have more fun painting on the floor with them than continuing her own work of art. She puts down her nice brush and turns to survey her friends.

Mike and Mia have discarded their first piece of paper, which is plastered with all sorts of colors and is, hey, actually kind of pretty. They're both working on their own now, but only in that they each have pieces of paper in front of them. They're both occasionally reaching over to each other's pages and adding things. It's definitely a competition.

Antonio is onto his third picture, which looks like its maybe a whale? No, it's definitely Antonio riding on the back of a whale. Emily takes a glance at Kevin's paper and rolls her eyes, because Kevin is practicing drawing symbols with the paint. Emily sort of can't wait for Mike's reaction when he figures this out.

And Jayden… Jayden is painting his hand.

Emily tilts her head at him. "What are you doing?" She asks.

Jayden looks up, surprised. Then he grins. "Watch," he says, and everyone stops what they're doing to watch Jayden place his hand down on the page and smoosh it around. When he lifts it, there is a large rainbow handprint on the page, and it's startlingly artistic and lovely.

"Sweet," Mike says, and he yanks Mia's hand up and starts painting her hand to sounds of her giggling disapproval.

Emily laughs, and grabs a paint brush and scoots over to Kevin. She gives him a sweet look as she holds out her hand for his. Kevin looks at her with narrow eyes.

Emily reaches over with her brush and paints across Kevin's symbol's, '_Mike is right about you'._

Kevin looks annoyed, so she whispers "You need to have more fun," to him while Mike is busy fighting with Mia about the colors her fingers should be painted.

With a half grin, Kevin hands Emily his hand, and she proceeds to paint it in a bright rainbow of colors, like Jayden's.

"Jayden," Mike says, when Mia has a hand full of paint that she's waving threateningly in Antonio's direction. "Can I see your handprint paper?"

Jayden passes it over, and Mia presses her hand down next to and overlapping slightly with Jayden's. Mike picks up the paper, blows on it to dry her new handprint.

Then he holds it up towards her. "This," he tells her happily, "this would sell."

Mia guffaws. "It wasn't even your idea!"

"But I helped paint it!" Mike retorts playfully.

"With my hand!" Mia laughs, and then she reaches over and presses her still wet hand against Mike's cheek.

Antonio and Jayden both laugh, and Kevin gives them this look that clearly says he thinks they're insane, but Emily thinks she sees some fondness there, too.

She grabs the paper with the rainbow handprints away from them to press Kevin's hand in a corner before they can ruin it with their play fighting.

"Me next, me next!" Antonio says happily, holding his hand out palm up to Jayden.

"That's it!" Mia says in an exasperated tone, standing. "I'm moving!" And she plops down on Emily's other side, leaning back against Emily's bed.

Mike sticks his tongue out at her, and she echoes the gesture, but they both smile warmly at each other. Then Mia leans over to Emily, plants her chin on Emily's shoulder and says, "Want me to do your hand?"

"Sure," Emily agrees, pressing her paint brush into Mia's painted hand; the paint has mostly dried now.

And Mia picks up Emily's hand and, while resting her head on Emily's shoulder, paints it into a rainbow.

Mike, though, is looking around with pursed lips. He eyes Jayden carefully painting Antonio's hand, glances over at Mia working on Emily's, and then he picks up a paintbrush and, small scoot by small scoot, inches closer to Kevin suggestively. He holds out the paintbrush, wiggles it suggestively.

Emily watches the exchange, watches Kevin shrug. "I wouldn't be as good at it. Wait for one of the others."

"Really?" Mike says, tilting his head. "You're gonna make me talk about how wonderful and talented you are in front of everyone? Because you know I'll do it."

"We all know how much Kevin likes compliments," Jayden says, not even looking up from Antonio's hand. Antonio, though, turns his head and wiggles his eyebrows.

Emily shoots Jayden a look he doesn't see; _really, Jayden, really_? She hopes it says.

To shut everyone up, Kevin takes the paintbrush, and Mike sets his hand on Kevin's knee while Kevin works on it.

They're quiet then, save for Mike whispering "That tickles" a moment later, while they work on the last three masterpieces.

Jayden finishes Antonio's hand first, and Mia passes them the paper with her foot. Antonio's gets smashed down next to Jayden's, leaving just enough room for two more. Mike presses his down next to Mia's, and Emily fills the space between Kevin's and Antonio's barely dry one.

Mike holds up the paper when they finish, appraisingly. "I think we're onto something here," he says, winking over at Mia. "Let's do two or three more and put them for sale as 'Modern' art."

"I think we should give it to Ji," Jayden says thoughtfully, and they all look over at him. "Well," he explains with a shrug, "We're the closest thing to children he has."

Emily looks at the handprints. They're all a little different, due in part to the skill and enthusiasm of each artist, and the size of their hands, but they are also all alike. They use the same colors, the same swirled designs. And she thinks, if she looks, that each of them has a little more of their own color on their handprint. They're all surrounded by everyone else's color, of course, but it's still discernible who's is who's.

It's a masterpiece, certainly, and miles ahead of her sunflower.

Later, when they've all washed their hands and picked up the supplies, Mia presents the rainbow handprints to Ji.

"For me?" He says, taking the paper with a surprised look.

Mia shrugs casually. "We thought you would appreciate it the most."

"I do appreciate it," he says, a wide smile breaking out on his face. "Very much. Thank you, Rangers."

Their finger painting ends up on the wall of Ji's bedroom, right next to a picture of himself with their parents, and a picture of Jayden as a little boy. It's, without a doubt, one of his most prizes possessions.

And so, of course, painting for Ji becomes an annual tradition.


End file.
